Home from Chile: Summary

Our last day had us do a last look at Shadrach's house, and his beaming smile said it all, he was soon moving in! He has certainly stolen the hearts of the team and some of the others stayed around to paint out his place and raised some extra money for finishing touches.

We had a stroll through central Santiago and I enjoyed gesturing with the Brazil boys as I speak no Portuguese and they speak a little English. Arno, Alverez and Gustavo are the first Brazil CS team to come with the intention of assisting another CS contact. I hope more of this is stimulated by their great example. Our comic drivers Jose and Pato dropped us off and the airport and expressed a deep appreciation of the team and thanked us for the privilege of being part of our trip.

Taylor has extended his ticket two more weeks and we purchased a ticket to Argentina for him in a weeks time. He is growing up a lot and become more confident speaking whatever Spanish phrases he knows, usually without context? He is hilarious and well liked and very easy going. It will be interesting to see how he copes riding the bus to the airport and then the 4 days he and two friends have alone in Buenos Aires.

We flew home without incident to Australia, so glad to land back in our beautiful country. And I was greeted by a beautiful wife! Gill, as always, has carried things at home, and certainly noticed the difference with just her and India there. She only washed once a week, the kitchen stays tidy and says she saves $250/week in food!

Reflecting back on the trip it exceeded expectations:

• Projects: We built a house, a beauty salon, a workshop and setup and laid half the strip footing for the new gymnasium. We ran a surf contest and did a road trip that involved another 10 Chileans. The Pura Vida community centre is such a hub for Christian outreach into this town and our contribution will build into the long term mission to Pichilemu. Mitch said he could not believe how much we acheived in such a short time.
• Team: We had such a mixed team, with 24 of us from mixed spiritual background, cultures, ages, sex and experience. Yet the unity and harmony was quite effortless. Quite a relief and a testimony of God's grace and how life can work when we are not focussed on ourselves.
• Finances: We came in below budget for our team expenses which gave us money to spare for support of the key staff and helpers. All very much appreciated.
• Thanks for all who contributed to our funding and prayed and encouraged. Special thanks to Austi Anglican church hosting a live Skype video link up and all their support.

Day 14: Back at Pura Vida

Yet another great early surf with the team, Lobos just keeps on churning out endless left-handers. A thick fog descended on us adding to the eerie backdrop of seals, birds and cliff. Aaron selflessly shot pics as the sun came out, wow, glassy sunny our last full day.

Back in town it was bustling with endless lines of people for churros, empanadas and ATM machines. We are over empanadas...but you can never have too many churros!? Last day shopping for gifts. It's hot and dusty.

We take out Roxy and Cristina and others who have served us so faithfully in the kitchen, such great examples. Lots of thank you's exchanged.

That night is a BBQ and bonfire as our last time together. God has challenged us about serving others, about what is really important in life and what it means to work together as a team despite all our differences.

We have been a team mixed of Christian and non-Christian, guys and girls, young and old, western and Latino. As people give accounts of what meant most it is not just the projects we completed but the friendships forged. The YWAM base has truly challenged us and the Anderson family example of radically serving Christ in the midst of many challenges stands out.

Day 13: Earthquake!!!

Well, it started simple enough, an early surf, a drive south to a small town for lunch and walking through quaint streets with plenty of evidence of earthquake damage from last year. "This would not be a good place to be in an earthquake" says Jeff, looking at all the loose dangerous items above our heads and on the walls.

We were on the beach checking out some cool caves when the rumble began. Some of us were walking on the beach and felt the sand move. Some were laying on the beach with their ear to the ground and heard the earth speaking to them! Some were up on a rocky hill above the caves and were shaken significantly. Whilst the movement really was not that bad, the response of the local people was significant - they ran, off the beach to the safety of their cars and off to higher ground!

We were still stunned and standing there talking about our own experiences of the earthquake when Nathan and Cole said, "We really really need to get out of here!" Our drivers were equally keen to go.

The radio was commandeered for the next 5 hours with interviews and alerts. Apparently where we had just had lunch was very close to the epicentre and it was a 7.0, the largest in ages. There was a red alert tsunami warning and evacuation requested. Exciting!

Well, we felt a bit bad as we chatted away and watched families load their cars and head for the hills literally. Meanwhile, our tents were on the beach at sea level with all our gear there. "Maybe we should just stay here with these local people and wait for this alert to finish?" said Aaron, probably not without wisdom. But we really didn't fancy the prospect of all our stuff being washed away should a tsunami come, so it was back to the campsite.

As we turned up we passed some campers leaving, whilst others seemed to be just hanging around...no I did not see anyone paddle out waiting to ride a tsunami! With one eye on the ocean and the other on our packing we were out of there in record time.

The road ran alongside the ocean much of the way and with the radio still blaring alerts we all nervously watched. It was very sobering to think that a year ago, the quake and tsunami was at 3am in the morning and people had no visual warning and many died being swept away in cars and homes. We detoured to Constitution and the smelliest paper mill that has ruined a number of point breaks, then moved on to find a small Cabana at 11pm and collapsed into bed, glad to not be sleeping on board bags and at a higher level above the ocean.

Day 12: Camping Pullay

At first light a couple of us were in the water with glassy lefts and a team of French surfers shooting a movie. The team slowly emerged from tents at all hours and we settled into the slow camping routine. This revolved around poking the fire, eating bread rolls, reading, sleeping and surfing. If your name was lisa, it was sleeping face down on a board bag all day.

We purchased 6 big fresh fish for $20 and prepared them in foil for the fire. The day dragged on and was grey with the horizon blending ocean and sky. Our bodies dragged on as the week of building caught up with us. Nana naps all round. The highlight was definitely cooking and eating fresh fish with veges and hot coal cooked potatoes.

We had our daily "inspiration spot" bible study round the fire and Cole sang some great songs she wrote. The reflective atmosphere was disturbed by T-Dogg singing and additional disturbing sounds from his other orifice. It had been a great day and the stars declared the glory of God for us all.